Wild horses
August 9, 2016

Wild horses . . . in reality, they are not exactly that, although there exist herds of feral horses in some areas of North America.

We have discovered that Colorado is home to four vast areas of land that are classified as Wild Horse Management Areas, and that are administered by the federal Bureau of Land Management.  That may be akin to Arizona's Salt River herd that has been in the news of late due to efforts to reduce or eliminate that bunch.  I remember watching that band as a youngster and loving the sight.

Cousin Barb joined us as we visited the Sand Wash Basin area, more than 150,000 acres set aside for what seems to be a small equine population.  Allowing and maintaining wild horse herds on public lands is highly controversial: Environmentally, they are doubtless destructive and certainly not native to this continent; however, horses are a revered animal by many and elicit strong emotional responses when there is a mention of any elimination or reduction. 

And then there's the issue of utilizing tax money to administer the herd management (although there are easily thousands of other far more absurd things we use tax money for, but don't get me started on that soapbox), an issue that should be addressed.

Because they have no natural predation, the herds increase exponentially, and therefore, it is deemed that there must be reductions via adoption, which involves a great deal of cooperation from the public, or euthanization if sufficient adoption opportunities don't exist.

At any rate, our search throughout that vast seemingly endless land was rewarded, first by individual young stallions and later by two widely separated bands of 20 to 30 horses each.  Both bands had a few foals and a wide variety of colorations.  They were beautiful animals, headed by a lead mare, a magnificent stallion following up and keeping the strings from straggling.

I was really drawn to the countryside out there: welcoming, beckoning and begging to be explored.  I could, and most likely will, spend many days hiking across it, hopefully some time soon.

We found critters other than horses whilst we were out on that range: a horned toad,

prairie dogs,

and a burrowing owl.  Among other birds, we also saw several loggerhead shrikes.

The Yampa . . .

We've now seen the Yampa River in many different guises, but much of it out here is wide and lazy, snaking back and forth across its rocky bed.  The three of us scouted out yet another river access, one that was beyond the Toter's abilities, requiring a steep (add "very" for the walk back uphill) hike.

At first look, we thought we'd found a footbridge across the Yampa.  The reality was far more unusual: it was a flume that moved water from higher up the river via a ditch and then across to transfer it down to valley agricultural fields.  There were several great looking fishing holes along that stretch, also sand burrs and poison ivy.

More sandhill cranes, with one of them feeling its oats.

Juniper Hot Springs . . .

Chris' map perusing aroused his curiosity about a place call Juniper Hot Springs, thinking we might visit for a nice soak.  Hahahahahaha - we were about 20 years too late, it seems.  Ruins only, but the rules and regulations are still clearly posted, so be certain not to take glass or dogs into the enclosure!

 Birding . . .

We have kept a complete bird list for the trip, but haven't included its entirety in the blog.  It was fun and surprising to see cedar waxwings right in the RV park perched like partridges in a pear tree.

We had a gazillion hummingbirds at the Craig KOA, and the redwing blackbirds completely decimated the seed we put out.

I forgot to mention the wild turkeys that grazed in the field next to our park in Vernal.

Our neighbor, James, arrived for a nearby job and is set up in a tiny R-pod with a tent/screen room extension.  We were astounded when he brought in a roommate to join him in those close quarters.

Thanks to Les & Jane for identifying the snake pictured in a previous blog as a blue racer or at least a close kin to their Michigan variety.  It definitely was blue and boy, was it fast!